


Bad Dreams and Wonderful Chaos

by AutisticWriter



Series: Polyamory Fics [166]
Category: Oxventure (Web Series)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Holding Hands, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Late Night Conversations, Multi, Nightmares, OT5, One Shot, Polyamory, Swearing, Whump, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: Corazon has a nightmare. His partners support him in their usual chaotic way.Alternate Prompt 10: Nightmares
Relationships: Corazon de Ballena | Corazon de Leon/Dob/Egbert The Careless/Merilwen/Prudence
Series: Polyamory Fics [166]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1182248
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Bad Dreams and Wonderful Chaos

Corazon’s large double bed used to seem wonderfully luxurious, with more than enough room for him, the captain of this amazing ship, to roll around in his sleep. But ever since the captain of the Joyful Damnation (that’s him, remember?) began a rather complicated relationship with his teammates, the bed has become a place for all five of them (sometimes eight if that fucking seal and those creepy books decide to join them) to sleep. Which all explains why Corazon frowns in his sleep, wedged on his side between Prudence and Dob with an elbow digging into his back.

Except… the slightly uncomfortable sleeping arrangements can’t be the cause of the frequent twitches and grunts that escape Corazon as he sleeps. Because nothing can stop the nightmares crawling into his mind and ruining his dreams. Part of Corazon had hoped sleeping with Dob, Merilwen, Egbert and Prudence would keep the nightmares at bay, but he isn’t that bloody lucky. And so, as his partners sleep comfortably all around him, Corazon tumbles into a nightmare.

_They’re always the same. Him as a young boy, still calling himself Percy, going about his life, doing fun things and planning his future, before everything freezing at the sound of his father’s voice._

_He tries to hide from his father, but Dream Corazon sucks at the stealth he likes so much, and his heart pounds and pounds as Father’s voice gets louder and angrier, and ~~Corazon~~ Percy feels so small and pathetic._

_And then Father finds him, yelling and berating Percy for his interests and being a normal happy child, and Father never touches him, but he still tenses up, wishing he could curl into a ball and vanish._

\---

After four hours of meditation, Merilwen ‘wakes up’, still lying on her back at the edge of the bed with Egbert’s arms slung around her. With no more need for resting, Merilwen eases out of bed without waking Egbert, and moves to tiptoe out of the room and head up onto the deck.

But then a whimper makes her freeze in her tracks, a shiver running up her back. She turns on the spot, staring down at her four sleeping partners—and her eyes focus on Corazon. The poor thing grimaces and fidgets in his sleep, clearly having a bad dream. Not sure if it’s a good idea but doing it anyway (she can’t just let him keeping being scared), Merilwen turns into a cat and creeps up the bed, avoiding waking Dob and Prudence, who sleep either side of him. And she climbs onto Corazon’s shoulders, leans down and nuzzles her face against his nose.

Corazon awakes with a flinch, eyelids flickering open. And then he spots what must appear like a giant cat looming right above his face and he jerks upright so fast Merilwen goes flying.

“What the bloody fuck?!” Corazon yelps, lashing out in a pathetic attempt at self defence.

As she flies through the air, turning back into a wood elf before her little cat body smashes into a wall, Merilwen realises she didn’t think that through. Her attempt to quietly pull Corazon from his nightmare goes spectacularly wrong, Corazon’s yelp waking the other three and the whole exercise leaving Merilwen crouched on the floor, having narrowly avoided injury.

“What on Geth is going on?” Prudence says, her attempt at looking grumpy ruined by her tired eyes and messy hair.

“What’s the noise about?” Egbert mumbles, eyes still shut.

“Huh, what’s going on?” Dob says.

Confused and clearly panicked, Corazon stares around the room, arms still raised in a defensive stance. “What’s… Why was there a cat on my face?”

“A cat?” Prudence says, raising an eyebrow, and four pairs of eyes stare right at Merilwen.

“I can explain,” Merilwen says sheepishly, creeping back over to the bed.

As she moves, the others notice how tense and scared Corazon looks, despite his futile attempts to appear sleepy and pissed off instead. He swallows hard, ducking his head.

Hopping onto the bed, Merilwen sits cross-legged at Corazon’s feet, and reaches for one of his hands. He flinches, but doesn’t pull away. “It was my fault. Corazon looked like he was having a bad dream—”

“No I wasn’t!” Corazon blurts out, but his voice cracks.

“Shut up now,” Prudence says, her tone far softer than her words imply.

Corazon sighs, flinching again when Dob slips an arm around him, and slumps in defeat. “She’s right.”

Continuing like he didn’t interrupt, Merilwen says, “I tried to wake him up without disturbing the rest of you, but…” She giggles awkwardly. “Turns out waking up with a cat right in your face is pretty scary.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Egbert says, finally looking at Corazon, and sadness sparkles in his sleepy eyes.

“So… sorry about that, Corazon,” Merilwen finishes, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah, you better be,” Corazon says, trying so hard to be cocky and moody, but failing miserably.

“What were you dreaming about?” Prudence asks, and Corazon flinches again.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he mutters.

Prudence sighs, but gives him a pat on the head (an action that would look patronising from anyone other than her). “Fair enough.”

Over Corazon’s bowed head, Prudence meets Merilwen’s eyes. Dob and Egbert stare too, and Merilwen realises all three have come to the exact same conclusion as her. Corazon was almost certainly having a nightmare about his dad. He refuses to talk about it, but Merilwen has managed to infer a history of neglect and emotional abuse that definitely contributed to the man Corazon grew into. But none of them push him about it, knowing he won’t talk.

Dob smiles sadly, hugging Corazon tighter. “Well… do you wanna go back to sleep, mate?”

Corazon sighs, glancing at the four of them, and Merilwen watches cogs turn in his mind. It obviously pains him to say it (the stubborn roguish git can’t stand letting his guard down), but Corazon shakes his head and mutters, “I’d, uh… I’d rather stay up for a bit.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Dob cries, shooting a hand up in the air like a kid answering a question in class. “Want me to sing to you?”

A heavy sigh passes Corazon’s lips, and Merilwen expects him to scoff and swear, but he instead whispers, “Sounds good.”

Grinning, Dob springs from the bed and darts from the room, rambling about his ukulele.

Moving much slower, a very sleepy Egbert gets to his feet and yawns into his hand. “Well, if we’re staying up, I’m gonna get some snacks.”

“Yay! Night-time party!” Prudence says, beaming, and Merilwen has to smile as Prudence’s adorably childish side shines through. At Prudence’s cry, growling and panting emanates from a box on the other side of the room, and Frisky and The Darkness pounce onto the bed, lunging at their mum. “Hello, my book babies!”

Merilwen giggles at the sight, and turns her gaze to Corazon. His tense shoulders relax slightly, and he manages a look of exasperation almost like normal. “You feeling any better?”

To her surprise, Corazon squeezes her hand back, and whispers a bashful, “Y-Yeah. Thanks.”

She smiles and squeezes back, glad to see his anxiety fading away, and loses her chance to say any more when Egbert and Dob spill back into the bedroom, one holding a tray of random snacks and a pissed off seal, and the other tuning his ukulele and humming a very familiar song about buses coming and people jumping, and…

And Corazon just stares at the wonderful chaos all around him, the memories of his father gradually fading away.


End file.
